Teacher’s Brain

The Top 3 Benefits of STEM Activities in Elementary

Wondering about the benefits of STEM activities in elementary? You’re in the right place! If you know me, you know I love STEM activities and it’s so fun to see our young students light up when they are wrapped up and fully engaged in STEM learning. 

stem activities

What is STEM and why is it important? 

STEM is essentially an integrated approach to learning that incorporates four key disciplines: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. These subjects are at the heart of many of the world’s most pressing challenges and exciting opportunities, so it’s important that we get our kiddos comfortable with it from an early age. 

Here are some of the top benefits of STEM activities: 

STEM Activities Foster Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving

STEM challenges are like brain-boosting exercises for our young learners. They help our students flex their thinking muscles by encouraging them to ask questions, explore solutions, and adapt their strategies when faced with hurdles. It’s all about honing those essential problem-solving skills that will serve them well in school and beyond.

Tip: To make this even more exciting, encourage your students to team up and work together. When they brainstorm and chat about their ideas, it can take their critical thinking skills to a whole new level!

Promotes a Love for Learning

Let’s make learning an adventure! STEM challenges turn the classroom into a place where students can have a blast while they learn. Children are naturally curious, and these activities tap into that curiosity. When kids are having fun, they’re more likely to remember what they’ve learned and develop a deep love for STEM subjects.

Tip: Choose challenges that match your students’ interests. Whether it’s building, experimenting, or exploring, let their passions lead the way. And don’t forget to weave in some fun stories and real-world examples to keep them engaged.

Builds Confidence and Resilience

Completing STEM challenges is a wonderful confidence booster! When students conquer obstacles and see their ideas come to life, they walk a little taller and believe in themselves, and what teacher wouldn’t love that?! Plus, they learn that mistakes are just stepping stones to success. That kind of resilience is a life skill that will stay with them long after they leave your classroom.


Tip: Celebrate every little success with your students. Emphasize the value of hard work and not giving up, even when things get tough. Encourage them to look back on their mistakes as opportunities to grow and do even better in the next challenge.

Looking for the perfect STEM challenge? Here are some super fun and engaging STEM challenges to try with your students: 

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie STEM Challenge | Build a Mouse House

STEM activities for kids

Be the teacher they remember with these engaging STEM Activities! Kids will have a blast learning about blueprints, floor plans, area, design, and writing while doing these activities! Use the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff as a HOOK with this STEM activity! Check it out! 

Apollo Lunar Module STEM Challenge

lunar lander stem activity

Are you looking for an engaging STEM Challenge to enhance your space unit or to teach how the first man landed on the moon? This is a great challenge for students to use materials to create a Lunar Lander module to test for a soft landing with their “shock absorbers.” 

Building 2D & 3D Shapes Toothpick Cards, Activities and Challenges

toothpick stem activities

Are you looking for some fun STEM ideas to incorporate into building math geometry skills with 2D and 3D Shapes? I have you covered with these Build A Shape Mats! Print and laminate. Students build it with toothpicks and molding dough (you can use marshmallows or gumdrops instead), count the toothpicks, sides, vertices, and trace the words!

I hope you love these activities and that your students have lots of fun with them! Looking for more tips for STEM learning? Check out my post here!

5 Fall Activities to Do With Your Elementary Students

Fall is in the air! Are you ready? 

The fall colors and weather are a fantastic backdrop for outdoor exploration. It’s the perfect time to take your students on nature walks, scavenger hunts, and teach them about the changing seasons.

I always loved using this time of year as a chance to explore apples and pumpkins in lessons. These activities not only engage students but also provide opportunities for math, science, and sensory learning. 🍁🍂📚

fall activities

If you are looking for some fall activities for elementary students, fall activity sheets, or fall worksheets, you are in the right place! 

So what are some activities you can do during the fall season? 

I have you covered! Here are 5 of my favorite fall themed resources to use this time of year! 

Fall Scarecrow Writing Craft

fall activities for kids

This engaging  fall activity will help your kids enjoy their writing time and provide a cute display for your classroom! Three different types of lines for you to choose from to make it perfect to individualize for your students.

Fall Math and Literacy Worksheets

fall crafts and math activities

Candy corn activities are so easy to get kids engaged in learning in the fall! Teach math, opinion writing, letter id, STEM and so more with this activity pack made around a candy corn theme! Learning made fun for fall time!

Fall Would You Rather Writing Activity

fall writing activities

Would you Rather Prompts are great conversation starters, ice breakers or writing prompts. Use these interactive, editable Google Slides to easily have students show one or two fingers to share their choice.

Fall Directed Drawing

fall directed drawing

Show students how to draw fall images with their writing using these directed drawings for primary and intermediate grades in 5 simple steps. Pick and choose what works for you to create a journal or a gift for others!

Pumpkin Worksheets and Activities

pumpkins worksheets fall activities

Looking for a great plan with everything you need to teach students all about pumpkins? I have you covered with this math and literacy plan that includes crafts, writing, reading, bulletin board options, posters, and so much more! 

 I hope your students love these fall activities, crafts, and worksheets as much as mine did! Fall is such a great season to celebrate in the classroom, so don’t miss out on the wonderful opportunities that fall brings! 

If you want more fall fun, check out these free fall printables! 

What are your favorite fall activities for the classroom? Let me know in the comments!

Bring March Madness Fun Into The Classroom

March is officially upon us and that means March Madness has begun! March Madness is a yearly NCAA Division I basketball tournament. It takes place every year from the middle of March to the beginning of April. 

68 college basketball teams play against each other for the chance to win the spot as the year’s National Champion. Needless to say, it’s pretty exciting! 

March Madness pin image

Even for people who aren’t usually basketball fans, this time of year can still be fun. Everyone chooses their teams and predicts who they think will win. It’s also so fun to watch the games with family and friends. 

Given that it is so thrilling for students and teachers alike, I created some resources so that you can easily bring the March Madness fun into the classroom and celebrate while reviewing skills in math, language arts, and STEM.

First up, I wanted to share my March Madness Math and Literacy worksheets. 

March Madness Activities

These basketball-themed worksheets will enhance learning language arts and math skills during March Madness. It includes over 60 worksheets that you can easily print and go. Perfect for using all throughout the tournament!

This resource was designed for kindergarten and first grade students. It even includes some fun games to get your students excited to learn! 

march madness activities

You’ll get answer keys to the activities to make them easy to implement. Check it out here!

The second resource I wanted to share is my March Madness STEM Catapult Challenge! 

march madness stem activities

This hands-on STEM challenge is guaranteed to get your students engaged! Students will build a hoop and catapult to launch their “basketball”. This resource is great for learning about basketball and levers. 

This resource includes 3 days of plans and is perfect for kindergarten, first grade, or second grade students. It comes with 30 printables, 2 posters, print and go plans, answer keys, rubrics, and a journal. Everything you need! You can add your own materials or use the premade version. 

march madness stem activities

Check it out here! 

I hope you love these basketball-themed activities! What’s your favorite part of March Madness? Let me know in the comments!

 

The STEM Toothpick Challenge That Your Students Will Love!

When working with kindergarten and first grade students, it’s important to keep things fresh and exciting in the classroom. Their attention spans aren’t exactly long and they can get restless easily. STEM activities are a great way to do that! 

stem

When I was in the classroom, I was always looking for STEM activities that would make our lessons interesting and exciting for my students. I love STEM because it makes it so easy to increase student learning and educational outcomes. What kid doesn’t love to get their hands dirty and create?!

STEM challenges provide endless possibilities if you have some basic supplies stocked in your classroom. 

Some great materials to have on hand include: 

  • Bingo daubers
  • Whiteboards and Expo markers
  • Playdough
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Small candy 
  • Finger paint
  • Shaving cream
  • Popsicle sticks
  • Aluminum foil
  • Pencils 
  • Construction paper
  • Markers 
  • Legos 
  • Cotton balls
  • Tape
  • Straws

Another supply we use is tooth picks! These are a great, inexpensive supply you can use for so many things. 

Our favorite activity is this STEM Toothpick Challenge. 

stem

This is a hands-on activity you can use when you are teaching about 2D and 3D shapes. This resource comes with Build A Shape mats to show students what shapes to make. Just print and laminate them and you can use them year after year. 

stem

Students build their 2D and 3D shapes with toothpicks and playdough. You can use marshmallows or gumdrops instead if preferred. Students will engage in STEM thinking as they count the toothpicks, sides, vertices, and trace the words. 

Included with this resource you get:

  • 8 2D Mats for shape building
  • 6 3D Mats for shape building
  • 2 Recording sheets
  • 2 Answer keys 

stem

This challenge encourages thinking, teaches shape recognition, sides, and vertices, and increases problem solving skills. 

stem

Check it out here! 

If you are looking for more STEM activities, check out my STEM challenge here that ties in with the book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff. 

What are your favorite STEM activities for kindergarten and first grade? Let me know in the comments!